High-end sweatpants and long johns emerged as the fashion-forward man's legwear of choice for next fall. Labels from Louis Vuitton to Jean Paul Gaultier and Belgium's darling of the critics, Dries Van Noten, paired slouchy leggings with razor-cut blazers to create the sartorial variation of the mullet: Business on top, couch potato from waist down. Comfy pieces were big winners, in general. Snug, grandpa cardigans were layered under and at times over suits that were sometimes sheered of their fussy buttons in the name of comfort. Footwear, however, was another story. Chunky mid-calf boots, from combat- to motorcycle-boots, dominated Paris' runways - often with slim cut trousers tucked into them. Most designers worked in a somber palette of black and charcoal, with some oatmeal thrown in for good measure. Though the City of Light's menswear shows ended on Sunday, much of the international fashion glitteratti will stay on for the haute couture displays, which run until today. For their couture collection, those labels with the means dig deep into their pockets to allow the creative juices free rein and showcase their savoir faire through extravagant, handmade dresses that cost as much as a (very expensive) car. An unusual fashion show was held at The Ritz-Carlton recently. It featured slender, young Chinese models who strutted around the Victorian tearoom wearing stunning black and silver cocktail dresses, but it was hard to notice them.
Katy Perry made her statement with hot pink lips but her champagne dress with gold-and-pearl floral embellishment by Zac Posen was understated and elegant - at least by Grammy standards. Toni Braxton wore a dove-gray, one-shoulder gown by David Meister while Melanie Fiona also did the asymmetrical top, but hers was black and had a pouffy black trumpet skirt by Christian Siriano. "It made me feel like old Hollywood," she said. "It's classic, like I think my music is." Britney Spears wore a black lace dress with black bodysuit by Dolce & Gabbana, and Ciara wore a black lace jumpsuit and crystal-studded jacket with tails and shoulder pads by Givenchy. Nicole Kidman wore a movie star-worthy black Prada gown with a halter neckline. Jennifer Lopez, who had one of the most famous Grammy fashion moments in a plunging-V gown back in 2000, again wore Versace, this time a silver chain-mail dress with white chiffon overlay. There was also a strong showing of gray, which is sort of unexpected considering the crowd. Miley Cyrus did a steely long-sleeve minidress and chunky heels, and Pink wore a gray-to-black ombre gown with a jeweled neckline and waistband. Her super-short hair highlighted her other bling: diamond bracelets, pendant-drop earrings, pave ring and hair brooch, all by Neil Lane. Keri Hilson complemented the crystal waist on her blush-colored Dolce & Gabbana strapless with a huge Neil Lane cocktail ring.
"I came to the United States in 1978 with a bag full of dreams, running away from the war in my country, Nicaragua, and here I am," he said. "So dreams do come true. I want to dedicate this Grammy to all the people in my country still struggling to make a better life." La Quinta Estacion, the Mexico-based group originally from Spain, collected its second best Latin pop album for "Sin Frenos," while Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 won its second best Latin rock, alternative or urban album for "Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo." Two sons of Bob Marley earned acclaim. Stephen Marley won best reggae album for "Mind Control - Acoustic," while Ziggy Marley captured best musical album for children for "Family Time." Best traditional world music album went to Malian kora player Mamadou Diabate for "Douga Mansa." American banjo master Bela Fleck won best contemporary world music album for "Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol 3 - Africa Sessions." (Agencies) Futuristic fashion and solar system dress Samantha Critchell All eyes on the red carpet at Sunday's Grammy Awards went straight to Lady Gaga and her solar-system gown that was totally out of this world. Lady Gaga has become fashion's favorite chameleon and she didn't disappoint with this shiny, silvery, three-dimensional number that was created in collaboration with Giorgio Armani. She then opened the show in a green fairy-wing bodysuit - with matching green sparkle booties, of course.
Her dresses are magnets for well-heeled clients. Their growing allegiance has contributed to sales in excess of $7 million last year, said Zach Duane, the company's senior vice-president for business development, a figure that will likely hold steady through this year as well. Not so impressive, perhaps, by the standards of high profile fashion companies that tally their sales in the billions of dollars. But Beckham envisions a measured growth for her brand. "We are moving in baby steps," she said of the line, mostly financed at the outset with the proceeds - less than $1 million - from the sales of the Beckhams' successful fragrance line. The collection is tightly distributed - the dresses are made in England and carried in 20 stores around the world. New denim and eyewear collections are being sold in 100 stores, Duane said, and freestanding Victoria Beckham boutiques are in the offing. Her attentiveness to the fit, construction and marketing of her line has just won her a British Fashion Council nomination as Designer Brand of the Year. But "I'm not claiming to be a master draper," she says. "The bottom line is: Would I wear this?" Her sauciness has endeared her to no less a cultural arbiter than Marc Jacobs, who befriended Beckham and featured her in an advertisement campaign, in which she allowed herself to be photographed upended, her legs projecting from a shopping bag and waving in the air. Jacobs' public embrace went some way toward redeeming her in the eyes of the fashion elite.
"She's growing up," said Ken Downing, the fashion director of Neiman Marcus, and an early advocate of Beckham's designs. "Her knowledge of dressmaking is impressive. She understands how to bring out the best in the female form and that's one reason our clients are drawn to what she does." Good clothes are a necessary part of a life spent basking in the public eye. Beckham has cavorted for the camera in the Mediterranean-style villa in Beverly Hills, Calif., that she shares with her husband, a home filled with art by Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor-Wood and Tracey Emin. She has sashayed from fashion runways to high-profile advertising campaigns and appeared on TV shows, including Ugly Betty and American Idol. Her life - the feverishly documented spending sprees, the star turns on the red carpet, the clamor for her designs - may be enviable, but she wants you to know it has left her unspoiled. "Doing diva," she said in London in June, "that's completely pointless." Insiders powerful enough to score an invitation to her intimate spring 2011 showing this month may well take her at her word. She is a woman aglow in, although not overtly dazzled by, her own success, one who serves as the commentator for her shows - confessing, rather disarmingly, her relative ignorance. "Look, it's a basic way that I am doing this," she said last season. "Technically, it's probably not the right way." Her dresses, once so corseted that they gave off a whiff of kitsch, are loosening up, exuding at times a patrician breeziness.
Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused." Loose leggings were worn under shorts and dresses as the new take on tights, and a silk-poly-metal fabric blend used for jackets and a pair of chic trousers was stiff yet slouchy. Chai also brought back the wide-leg palazzo pant, an easy choice for a warm-weather vacation, often pairing it with an appropriately crinkled jacket or gathered top. This could be a further evolution of the trouser trend that has taken hold among the fashion-forward set for fall. The Vena Cava girls took a tour through the 1980s with inspiration from Memphis, an Italian design movement dating back to the 1980s known for bold colors and geometric shapes. Designers Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai showed a collection heavy on black, red, aquamarine green, rust and bright yellow. Beige culottes were paired with a black zip-up jacket. Netting was used on the back of a beige romper and on a cream cotton dress, tied with a rope belt and worn under a beige blazer. "They are almost like disco silhouettes, some of them. They're clothes that you could just dance all night in, that you feel totally comfortable doing anything in," said Mayock. Some dresses had asymmetrical hemlines: longer on the sides and short in back and front. "We also have a lot of day gowns. We are kind of sick of seeing of the LBDs (little black dresses). We liked the idea of girls wearing floor length things really casually," Buhai said. The former pop idol, celebrity soccer wife and occasional model solidifies her credentials in her latest incarnation as a fashion designer LONDON - Victoria Beckham talks the talk.